By Arun Pratap Singh
Dehradun, 19 Apr: In view of the large scale fraud observed in chopper bookings for Char Dham Yatra, last year and the year before that, the Uttarakhand Special Task Force (STF) has taken proactive action this year to prevent such frauds. Fake websites are created which promise chopper bookings for Kedarnath and other Char Dham sites. Many pilgrims assuming them to be genuine sites were getting cheated of lakhs of rupees. In view of this, as per the strict instructions of Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, the Uttarakhand STF has taken proactive action. Eight such fake websites have been identified by the STF, so far, which promised heli-tickets for the Char Dham Yatra and, in particular, for the Kedarnath Yatra. All these 8 websites have been blocked now.
The blocked fake websites are https://www.helicopterticketbooking.in/, https://radheliservices.online, https://kedarnathticketbooking.co.in/, https://heliyatrairtc.co.in/, https://www.heliyatrairtc.co.in/ ://kedarnathtravel.in/, https://instanthelibooking.in/, https://kedarnathticketbooking.in/ and https://kedarnathheliticketbooking.in/
In order to prevent fraud with respect to heli-ticket bookings, this year, only the Indian Railway Catering & Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has been authorised to book chopper tickets for the Char Dham Yatra with effect from 8 April. It may be recalled that IRCTC remains the only official portal for booking railway tickets for the passengers. It is a PSU. In such a situation, through the URL of this website www.heliyatra.irctc.co.in/, devotees can book their heli-service tickets for the Chardham Yatra. No other website or platform or company has been authorised to book heli tickets for Char Dham Yatra.
SSP, STF, Ayush Aggarwal, today appealed to the interested pilgrims to verify carefully that they are booking the tickets only from the authorised IRCTC portal having address www.heliyatra.irctc.co.in/, before making any payment, check the related payment medium yourself. In this regard, a campaign has been launched by the Special Task Force against those running fake websites.
Ayush Aggarwal further appealed to the people to report to the Police in case they come across any fake chopper booking website to STF in Dehradun at the mobile numbers 9456591505, 9412080875 on this subject. They can also share the screenshot of the website.
